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Mini background and Mini deals news

Mini sold 345,940 cars last year, making it the 18th most popular manufacturer in the UK. Their best-selling model is the Cooper, with over 14,961 cars registered on this country’s roads. Mini’s will continue to be a great choice for style-conscious car buyers throughout 2016.

The Mini was invented and devised in 1957 but was launched in 1959. The first models were marketed under two of BMC's brand names, Austin and Morris. Mini was born as a result of a fuel shortage caused by the 1956 Suez Crisis. Petrol was once again rationed in the UK and there was a slump in sales of large cars. It was under these conditions that a production version of the Mini was demonstrated to the press in April 1959 and by August that year several thousand Minis were produced and ready for sales. Rover was still suffering massive losses in March 2000 when BMW decided to dispose of most of the company, with the sell-off completed in May that year. However, BMW retained the Mini name and the planned new model. This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC. Mini became a brand in its own right in 1969 though it was again marketed under the Austin name plate in the ’80s. The original Mini is considered an icon of the 1960s and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers. The vehicle is in some ways considered the British equivalent to its German contemporary, the Volkswagen Beetle, which enjoyed similar popularity in North America. A more powerful Mini Cooper S was developed in tandem and released in 1963.

Cooper also produced two models specifically for circuit racing, both of which were also offered to the public. John Cooper saw the potential of the Mini for competition and debuted the Austin Mini Cooper and Morris Mini Cooper in 1961. The Mini Cooper S earned acclaim with Monte Carlo Rally victories in 1964, 1965 and 1967.Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the British market enjoyed numerous ‘special editions’ of the Mini, which shifted the car from a mass-market item into a fashionable icon. It was this image that perhaps helped the Mini become such an asset for BMW. Indeed, 5.3 million Minis were sold, making it by far the most popular British car ever made. At its peak, the Mini was a strong seller in most of the countries where it was sold, with the United Kingdom inevitably receiving the highest volumes.

As a subsidiary of BMW Group, MINI technology is very similar to that found in several BMW models. The MINI plant in Oxford reduced waste to landfill from 12.2kg per car in 2008 to 6.6kg per car in 2011. Advances at the famous Paintshop have also helped save around 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. MINI currently uses several engines that emit less than 100g/km CO2.

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